Well, this can’t be called the “Marquee Primer” seeing as how there is no Marquee tournament this time around. But with the sealed booster tournaments for the Herald of Galactus events, you’ll actually get to play more sealed events than you might have with just a Marquee.

There are some changes to the format to keep in mind: This is a 2 booster, 300 point game.
But the boosters now have 5 figures each. This means you’ll get 10 figures to choose from instead of 12. You’ll also only get 2 cards instead of 3.
With slightly fewer figures to choose from, you might have to give more consideration to figs you might not have otherwise wanted to play.

On the plus side, the cost range of the figures in this set is lower than the last 2 sets, so you’ll probably have more leeway to play the figs you want. And there aren’t really any ‘pull this figure = win the game’ pieces this time either.

Here’s the review schedule:
Part 1 – Commons
Part 2 – Uncommons
Part 3 – Rares
Part 4 – Super Rares
Part 5 – Cards (Fri)


These reviews are intended strictly for sealed, 300 point games with only this set.

Click ‘Read More…’ below for the full review.

Welcome to another Primer Review!

First off, thanks to AndrewTarius for the awesome banner. He’s been doing all the great new avatars for the realms, and was nice enough to whip me up a fine looking header too. Andrew also added the Special Power to the dial code, and an easy retrieval of dial code so I can try to make sure the dials are correct here.
Thanks a ton AT!

As for the set and the review…
Marvel Avengers changes the paradigm for how clicks are distributed, and how we’re playing tournaments, at least for the immediate future.
This set has a good balance of strong higher cost figs and mid to low range support. Even though you’ll get 2 less figures to choose from, you should be able to fit more figures on your team overall.
Good luck with your pulls and your game.
And remember, for the Herald of Galactus tournaments, everyone should get the ‘prize’ anyway, so have fun!

This review is for a 300 point, 2 booster Sealed event only.
Using a Smiley rating system.

– Steer clear of this figure.
:disappoin:disappoin – Not too good. Should be considered with caution.
– Fair. Based on how you need to fill out a team and what else you pull.
– Good. Definitely consider this figure.
– Great! Should be a top choice for your team.

These figures are compared only within the Avengers set, so there will be only a few 1 or 5 smiley ratings here.
So please realize that even though your favorite character might not have gotten five smileys like you think it should, I’m just trying to be fair.

Everything written here is in the most general form possible.
Since the specific combination of figures pulled will work together to determine which are more playable than others.

Lastly, this review is just my opinion. And these are a lot of work to write, so I ask you very kindly, please don’t get angry at me for my ratings. I give reasonable explanations for each choice. If you disagree (and you are welcome to do so), please try to do the same. x

That’s all on that, now on to the review!

Part 4 – Super Rares:

av049 V Two-Gun Kid
Team: Avengers
Range: 6 /
Points: 50
Keywords: Avengers, Past

8 10 16 2

8 9 15 2

7 9 15 2

7 9 14 2

6 8 14 1

6 8 13 1

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

(Speed) Faster, Cyclone!: When Two Gun Kid is not carrying another character modify his speed value by +2.
(Attack) Fanfire: Give Two Gun Kid a ranged combat action he makes two separate ranged combat attacks as free actions (making two separate attack rolls against two different target opposing characters) Resolve the first attack before making the second.

50 point for that! I’ll take two please!
This is one of the lucky pieces to pull in the sealed event. At only 50 points he should fit on just about any team. Keep in mind he’s a Transporter (even though he’s single base, non-flier). That means he can use the Transporter move/attack ability.
His AV is good, defense average, damage – minimal, but thanks to the Special Ability he can make 2 attacks against 2 different targets.
You get what you pay for, and for 50 points 2GK isn’t going to make or break your team. But he will definitely come in useful in so many ways that you’ll be glad you pulled him.
V –

av050 V Winter Soldier
Team: None
Range: 10 /
Points: 70
Keywords: S.H.I.E.L.D., Soldier, Spy

8 10 17 3

8 10 17 3

6 11 16 3

8 11 15 2

6 10 14 2

7 9 13 1

6 8 13 1

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

(Damage) Ruthless Ally: Give Winter Soldier a close combat or ranged combat action. Before making this attack, you can modify Winter Soldiers damage value by +1 if you deal 1 unavoidable damage to an adjacent friendly character.

And the hits just keep on coming. Winter Soldier is a plain steal for 70 points. You should do the Snoopy happy dance if you pull him. Not only is he eminently playable, but he’s on the of the most sought after figs in the set – for good reason.
Super sniper – 10 range, 3 damage plus RCE! Good defense. Decent AV that gets better! Stealth for a some safety (though it will be overrated with the Ultimates abound.)
Just an all around wicked dial. Even the special power is ruthlessly cool, and there very well may be a situation where you’ll happily give your own teammate some damage to deal extra to an enemy. Keep in mind though, the way this is worded the ‘adjacent friendly character’ will take the damage even if Winter Soldier misses the attack.
Still a solid pull for the points.
V –

av051 V Spider-Man
Team: Avengers
Range: 6 //
Points: 111
Keywords: Armor, Avengers, Reporter, Scientist

10 11 17 3

9 11 17 3

9 10 16 2

9 9 16 2

8 9 18 3

8 8 17 3

8 9 16 2

7 10 15 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

(Attack) Webbing: Spider-Man can use Incapacitate, but if the attack succeeds against a target with zero action tokens, give the target two action tokens instead of one.

Man, three in a row! It’s a hat-trick!
Being that so many figures in this set are average in every way, it almost seems like they were saving up the good stuff for the super-rares.
Spider-man is a sweet, sweet pull for this format. Great AV, good defense, and starting Outwit! Huzzah!
He has a deep dial, consistently good defense, a great special power and a few other bonuses thrown in for garnish.
There’s really no need to go into great detail about this figure, he’s just tremendously playable. (and highly sought after.)
V –

av052 V Citizen V
Team: Avengers
Range: 6 /
Points: 58
Keywords: Soldier, Thunderbolts, V Battalion

8 10 16 3

8 10 16 3

7 10 16 2

7 9 15 2

7 8 15 1

6 8 14 1

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

(Speed) Press the Attack: Once per turn, if Citizen V KOs an opposing Character with a close combat attack, he may IMMEDIATELY move up to his full speed value and make one close combat attack as free action.

Ok, now they’re just messin’ with us. 4 great figs in a row. Who’d of thunk it?
CV is good not because he rocks the house like Spidey or is lethal like Winter Soldier, but for the simple reason of being really good for the cost.
Charge and Blades to start is a nice combo. And 3 damage is good if you don’t want to risk a whiff on your Blades roll. Since you’re charging into close combat, Combat Reflexes helps too.
CV’s AV is good to start and terrifically steady. Feel free to push him to press an attack if need be, his AV holds at 10 for 3 clicks.
His Special power is spiffy too. Use it to target a Pog (if available) and then move 8 squares elsewhere to attack someone else. Two points of note on that – if you are still adjacent to an enemy, you’ll still have to roll to break away to move and attack. However, since you can move up to his full speed, he can choose to move 0 squares and just attack someone else nearby.
Great for the cost and playable down his entire dial – a great pull.
V –

av053 R The Colonel
Team: Master of Evil
Range: 0 /
Points: 118
Keywords: Liberators, Soldier

8 10 16 3

7 9 16 2

7 9 16 2

6 8 15 3

6 8 15 2

6 8 14 2

5 7 14 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Well, you couldn’t expect the winning streak to last forever, could you?
The Colonel (as he’s since been named, since he specifically says he eschews gaudy code names) is just ok.
His first click is familiar, though I’ve been fond of 10’s instead of 9’s in this set. But after the first click he has some limitations. Flurry with 2 damage is weak. Though Perplex mid dial is helpful in that regard. Charge and Exploit Weakness are nice, but with lowish AV’s, not necessarily great. He’s good, but not terrific for 118 points. His main problem is that for that cost, he should be fronting your team, but only dealing 2 damage for most of his dial, he can’t really hold his own. It also hurts that his defense is a middling 16 with toughness. So just about anyone with a 9 AV has an average chance of hitting him, and with all those 17 defenses out there, he’ll probably be a choice target.
R -

av054 U Ares
Team: Avengers
Range: 8 //
Points: 275
Keywords: Deity, Mighty Avengers, Soldier

10 13 18 5

10 12 18 5

10 10 17 3

8 10 17 3

8 10 17 3

8 10 16 3

8 9 16 3

7 9 16 3

7 10 15 2

6 10 16 2

6 11 17 2

KO KO KO KO

(Damage) Tactics: Ares can use Perplex, but he can target only himself and modify one of his values by only +2 with each use.

This is a very tough call. Typically these reviews will not recommend fielding a single figure as your whole team. Particularly in this set with so many low cost figs that he could get swarmed. On the other hand though, many figs have 5 – 7 clicks of life, so Ares can rack up points quickly with 1 or 2 hit kills.
His own defense is pretty solid, and very consistent down the dial. His special power is also decent so you can choose where you want help and boost a stat by 2. Also at 11 clicks deep, and with many figs in the set dealing only 3 damage, it could take a whole game to put him down.
The catch 22 in this kind of review is that with this rating, people will argue that he can’t hold his own. But conversely, if he got only 3 smilies, we’d hear from the other crowd arguing he’s better than that. So my only request is that if you don’t agree, please give more of a reason than “You give him 4 smilies but only gave Cap 3! You suck!”
U –

av055 U Hulk
Team: Ultimates
Range: 0 /
Points: 187
Keywords: Brute, Monster

7 10 18 4

8 10 17 4

8 11 17 5

8 12 17 5

7 11 17 4

6 10 16 3

6 9 16 3

6 9 16 3

5 9 15 3

5 8 15 3

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

(Attack) Hulk Smash You All!: Hulk can use the Master of Evil team ability.

Yay! No activation click! No battle fury either! Some Charge, some Flurry, good damage reducers, long dial. This is a Hulk that can really smash!
At 187 points, he’s a hefty bit of your team, but deals a ton of damage.
If you pick up a couple of mid-cost fighters or tie-up pieces to pick up the slack while he’s clearing, you’ve got some real potential.
One point of note, Hulk is a Giant fig, so other figs will have greater line of sight to him for Outwit and Line of Fire. But he'll also have a greater reach for his charge and close combat attacks.
Lack of Battle Fury also means he can throw objects as an attack, and the Ult TA means he can peg figs in Stealth if he wants.
U –

av056 U Hawkeye
Team: Avengers
Range: 8 /
Points: 56
Keywords: Avengers, Great Lake Avengers, Thunderbolts, West Coast Avengers

8 9 16 3

8 9 15 2

6 8 15 2

7 7 15 2

7 7 14 1

6 6 13 1

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

(Attack) Sharpshooter: Give Hawkeye a power action to make a ranged combat attack. Modify his attack value by +2 for the attack.
(Defense) Smoke Arrow: Hawkeye can use Smoke Cloud.

Another good one for the cost.
Running Shot for some mobility, or ‘Sharpshooter’ for a better standing attack. Defense is good for a ranged attacker if you can keep him out of close combat. Though you have to question the thought behind giving Smoke Cloud as a Special Power. Maybe short-bus ‘special.’ Ugh!
Still, great for the points as a secondary attacker.
U –

av057 R Scarlet Witch
Team: Avengers
Range: 8 /
Points: 35
Keywords: Avengers, Brotherhood of Mutants, Mutant, Mystical

7 9 16 2

7 8 15 2

6 8 15 2

6 7 15 1

5 7 14 1

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Only 5 clicks deep, but not at all bad for 35 points. PC will be very helpful in this set, and as a flying Avenger she can also pull double duty as a Taxi. Her range and AV are surprisingly good too, so she can take pot shots from the back line instead of just sitting there. A few clicks of Barrier to go along with her 8 range could come in handy as well.
Plus, there are not a lot of figs in her price range, so she’ll be great for filling out a team. Just keep her back out of harm’s way, her defense isn’t going to help her much if someone gets the drop on her. The thing that keeps her from being 5 smilies is that she’s primarily a support piece, and she’s a little easy to KO if someone does get to her. Even so, she’s very good and will almost always find her way onto a team, and you can’t really argue with that.
R –

av058 R Quicksilver
Team: Avengers
Range: 0 /
Points: 49
Keywords: Avengers, Brotherhood of Mutants, Mutant

10 9 16 2

9 8 16 2

9 9 17 2

9 9 16 2

8 8 15 2

8 7 14 1

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

(Speed) Supersonic Speed: Quicksilver may use Option 1 of Hypersonic Speed.

A nice Hypersonic Speedster for harassment is always welcome for under 50 points. Like Spitfire, Quicksilver will be good for pinging vulnerable figs, or even just a tie up piece. His mid dial 17 def with Combat Reflexes could really bog down an enemy. Generally good stats for a low cost is always nice.
R –

av059 R Wasp
Team: Avengers
Range: 5 /
Points: 37
Keywords: Avengers

7 9 17 2

6 8 16 2

6 8 16 1

5 7 15 1

5 7 15 1

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Mostly the same as her more common Ultimate version, but with the Avengers free move TA and slightly better movement. Of course it also helps that she’s 12 points cheaper too.
Wasp is a pure harassment piece; use her to ferry in a teammate, maybe take a pot shot at someone 5 squares away, and then hope her Super Senses holds. Her range is too short to keep her out of harms way and still use her as more than a taxi.
But if you have to use her as a tie up fig or fodder, hopefully her 37 points will be made up with whatever strategy you sacrificed her for.
R –

av060 U Cap and Bucky
Team: Avengers
Range: 8 /
Points: 138
Keywords: Invaders, Soldier

8 11 16 2

8 11 17 2

6 10 16 2

7 10 15 2

7 9 15 2

8 9 16 2

8 9 15 2

7 9 15 3

6 8 15 3

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Our very first Duo figure. Lets savor this moment…
Ok, moment over.
So, what to do with this Duo? The stats are generally pretty good on the first click. AV and range are solid, defense is only 16 but Inv helps. The big problem here is the low Damage. Perplex helps here, but Perplex always feels wasted when the character has to use it on themselves.
The Duo power is the newest confusion / game mechanic, so if you opt to play Cap & Bucky, make sure you know how it works, because you’re going to have to explain it to your opponent.
In a nutshell, you can make 2 attacks, close or ranged (or 1 each) against 1 target. Kind of like Flurry. But the second attack is –1 to damage.
This also means that it will not work with their Charge power.
All around, C&B have some good stats and interesting powers, plus the Duo Attack, but are severely hampered by continual low damage values. Even with Perplex, they still suffer low damage dealing potential for the cost.
Thanks largely to the Duo power and their Perplex, they’re still playable, but that’s largely dependant on who else you pull to play with them. At 138 points, they take a good portion of your team, so only a select few pulls will really work with them to make a great team.
If you do pull this, and want to play it, good luck and let us know how it works.
U –


A word on the Super Rares –
Many of these figures got high ratings in this review. This is because a lot of these figures are very good specifically for this format. Though their playability doesn’t necessarily carry over to open format games.
Also, none of these figures are ‘game winners.’ They’re good for sure, but there’s nothing here that says “pull this and win the game!” like there have been in some previous sets. So, just because the Super Rares are very playable in the sealed booster games, you still have as much a chance at winning even if you don’t pull any SR’s.



Check back tomorrow for the final installment; Feats, BFCs and Pogs.

Great review, as usual. The SR's really have the sealed environment owned, it seems. One comment on your review of the Hulk. He, as I recall, is a giant, and can't be toted around by fliers. Otherwise, he's still a great piece to whomp your enemies with.

Everyone seems to be touting the fact that Hulk lacks Battle Fury - as if it were a selling point with this figure. Personally, I'd take the Battle Fury so I don't get mind controlled.

AND: Hulk can't be carried. He's a giant.

Otherwise, great review.

Isn't Hulk a giant? If he is he cannot be carried right?

While slightly less than twice the cost of the Armor Wars Unique, "Iron" Spider-Man combines the best of the NGN Armored Spidey LE and Armor Wars Unique for 5 points more than the Sinister Vet, and with better combat values and power placement.

All SRs bring something good to the fray, but Spidey and Two-Gun Kid are the standouts.

Thanks! I knew he was a giant, but blanked on that detail when I wrote the review blurb.
Fixed it now.

Darn! and I had visions of Ult. Hulk being taxied by Hulkling & using sidekick.

Always love these reviews.

That said, also in the "can't be carried" category is the Cap & Bucky Duo, which is one of the strongest marks I'd have against it in this format especially. They're going to need to get somewhere on their own.

Great review! A couple things though...

Hulk is a Giant in this set so can't be carried. I almost wish this one -did- have Battle Fury since the negative of not being carried wouldn't matter and it would protect him from Mind Control. Not that there's much in this set, but still.

Edit: Ha! So many others pointed this out while I was typing.

They wanted him to have Smoke Cloud somehow, I guess! And since it's normally an attack slot power and that slot is filled with his other special power, it had to be made a special power elsewhere.

I fought against Winter Soldier in an Avengers sealed last week and he was a scary presence on the board. If you're not facing any Ultimates, just have him pick up a heavy object and snipe from stealth. 5 damage from range, or 5 damage to anyone who decides to base him. I happened to get really lucky and my opponent's Winter Soldier missed twice when my Stingray based him.

Great review AZS!

Just playing devils advocate here, but couldn't they give him the special power in the Damage slot for the whole dial? Which would leave the attack slot open for Smoke Cloud.

I see how the Speical Power fits logically in the Attack slot, but that logic versus the idea of giving the character 2 special powers just to make something weak work seems like overkill. They could have gotten away with the power in the damage slot and just Smoke Cloud in normally.

Just my interpretation. I like Special Powers just fine, but not superfluous ones.

jeese, he made a mistake about the giants.

Who cares;
SWEET REVIEWS, very soilid read,
Scott

Dead on Review!

Citizen V really is a bystander-slayer extraordinaire.

I think Cap and Bucky will really shine if you pull another source of perplex or even some enhancement. Otherwise they might not be good enough on their own.

Great reviews!

A word on Ares.

We played a 300-point "warm-up" sealed tourney last weekend, and the player who was fortunate enough to open Ares (and two playable pogs - Ken Hale and Frenchie) absolutely obliterated the opposition.

Two tie-up pieces helped to be certain, but Ares, with his huge Attack potential and high defense+Impervious, made him hard enough to hit, even when he was a clear target. He ended up going 2-1 in the tourney, mostly because the player lacked experience and was constantly afraid to push. In the hands of an experienced player, a solo Ares really could be a legitimate contender in sealed events.